


It's all about Chemistry

by emmerrr



Series: Pynch Week 2018 [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam and Henry are the Buzzfeed Beaker Bros, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Famous, M/M, New York City, Pynch Week 2018, think Buzzfeed Unsolved but with SCIENCE VIDEOS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 13:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15389838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmerrr/pseuds/emmerrr
Summary: Gansey is starstruck, Adam is bemused, and Ronan maybe — just maybe — has a crush.Pynch Week 2018 Day 1: Famous AU





	It's all about Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [veronicahague](https://archiveofourown.org/users/veronicahague/gifts).



“You take photographs of this statue every time we come here, Ronan,” Gansey said.

They were in Central Park at a little after 9am on a Saturday morning in April, standing before the Alice in Wonderland statue. Ronan fiddled with the settings on his camera and then stepped back, moving to get a better angle, and ignored Gansey.

“I mean, at a certain point, they all probably look the same, don’t they?” Gansey continued, unperturbed by Ronan’s silence.

First of all, that wasn’t exactly true; it was amazing the difference the seasons had on the look of the photographs, or the time of day. And second of all, it wasn’t really the _point._ It was a tradition more than anything else by now, and Aurora always liked to see the new photographs whenever Ronan returned from visiting the city.

He and Gansey had been the only ones in the direct area, but as he moved around the statue, Gansey trailing after him, Ronan became vaguely aware that they were no longer alone. Faded voices and laughter from across the other side alerted him to that fact, but it wasn’t enough of a bother to break his concentration.

 _“Ronan,”_ Gansey hissed, and began tugging incessantly at Ronan’s sleeve. “Ronan. Ronan. Ronan.”

That, however, _was._

Ronan lowered his camera from his face and yanked his arm away. “Jesus fuckin— _what,_ Gansey?” He turned to his friend but Gansey was looking across to the other side, where a small group of people were standing and quietly chatting amongst themselves near one of the benches.

“Am I…am I dreaming?” Gansey held his arm out to Ronan. “Here, pinch me.”

Ronan pinched him.

“Ouch!” Gansey yelped, rubbing the spot on his arm Ronan had just pinched. “That _hurt,_ Lynch.”

“You _asked._ Anyway, ta-da, you’re awake. The fuck’s gotten into you?”

Gansey shot Ronan a disbelieving look, and said in a low voice, “Don’t you _recognise_ them?”

Ronan looked at the strangers again. There were three of them — two guys and a girl — and they looked around Ronan and Gansey’s age, in the sort of way that everyone in their twenties pretty much looked around the same; it was hard to pin down an exact number. The girl was notable in the fact that she was _tiny,_ her short hair scraped back into a stumpy ponytail with an array of multi-coloured clips affixed here and there, making her hair stick out in all directions. It reminded Ronan of Kimi from Rugrats. Her companions were tall, or maybe just _seemed_ tall in comparison, and in fact most of the height from one of them came from his gravity-defying hair. A lot of product had to be holding that in place. All of his clothing seemed to be designer, and he looked ostentatious but in a fun way. By comparison, the other guy was much more unassuming, and yet it was on him that Ronan’s gaze lingered.

All in all, they made quite the miss-matched trio, and Ronan had definitely never seen them before.

He turned back to Gansey and shrugged. “Should I?”

“They’re the guys from that Buzzfeed science show, Ronan. The Beaker Bros?” Ronan stared blankly back at Gansey, whose own expression was positively scandalised. “Seriously? They’re the _Beaker Bros,_ Ronan, and that’s one of their producers, Blue. She’s in some of their vlogs.” Gansey’s tone was incredulous as he waited for the penny to drop, but it meant nothing to Ronan, and he shrugged again. Gansey shook his head. “Christ, have you been living under a _rock?”_

The honest answer was, _Yes, probably,_ but Ronan rather thought it was a rhetorical question.

“And they’re…famous,” Ronan said dubiously. They certainly didn’t _look_ famous. They didn’t even have any security around them, and it wasn’t like they were currently being swamped by admirers. Granted, Ronan and Gansey were the only other people around at the moment. But _still._

“Yes,” Gansey insisted. “Well, _YouTube_ famous anyway. Not, like, Tom Cruise famous.”

“Ah.”

“I’m a big fan.”

“Of Tom Cruise?”

“You’re hilarious,” Gansey deadpanned, and Ronan smiled sharply. He thought he was hilarious, too.

Over by the bench, the girl — Blue? — and the guy in the fancy clothes left, leaving the third alone. He sat down on the bench and took out his phone.

Ronan elbowed Gansey in the side. “Go and say hi, then.”

“What?” Gansey reared his head back. “Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly.”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “He’s just a person, Gansey, what’s the worst that could happen?”

But in an uncharacteristic bout of shyness, Gansey shrunk away. “No, I don’t want to bother him.”

With a great big sigh, Ronan stepped away. “Gotta do everything my fucking self around here.”

“No, Ronan, don’t—” Gansey snapped after him, but Ronan was already going, heading around the statue and coming to a stop just in front of the unsuspecting guy who was still scrolling through his phone.

“Hey, uh—” Ronan started, then instantly realised he didn’t know the dude’s name— “science…guy. Bill Nye.” He grinned at his hilarious joke.

Bill Nye looked up and said, in a tone so dry that Ronan couldn’t even tell if he was being sarcastic or not, “Never heard that one before.”

Ronan huffed a laugh and shrugged. “To be honest, I have no idea who you are.”

Eyebrows so pale they were practically non-existent raised as high as they could possibly go. “That’s a coincidence, because I have no idea who _you_ are either.”

Now this close to him and with a much clearer view of his face, Ronan was a little taken aback. He wasn’t as straightforwardly handsome as someone like, say, Gansey, and yet there was something peculiar about his features that made Ronan want to keep looking.

He sat down on the bench when he realised he’d been staring.

“Are you _lost?”_ asked the science guy, utterly exasperated.

“Are _you?”_ Ronan returned with a smirk, then decided to get to the point. “Nah, look, uh…”

“Adam,” supplied science guy helpfully. “Adam Parrish.”

“Right. Parrish.” Ronan pointed to himself and said, “Ronan Lynch, nice to meet you. But anyway, I came over here because my friend says you’re famous.”

Adam looked across towards the statue and narrowed his eyes. “What friend?”

“Huh?” Ronan looked over and couldn’t immediately spot Gansey. “Oh, for fu— _Gansey!”_

Gansey’s head appeared from behind Alice. Adam waved bemusedly, and Gansey positively beamed and waved back exuberantly.

“Come _here,_ you dickhead,” Ronan called, then glanced at Adam. “He’s having palpitations over there.”

“He seems alright to me.”

“Yeah, well, he was too chicken shit to come over here. Think he wants an autograph.”

“Does he now?” Adam asked.

Ronan shrugged. “Figured I’d give him an opening. But hey, feel free to tell him to fuck off. My work here is done.”

Adam loosed a breath that was almost a laugh and something twisted inside of Ronan. Horrifyingly, he found himself wanting to make Adam laugh properly. He was struck by the urge to impress Adam, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

By now, Gansey had reached them, and he held his hand out to Adam who shook it politely. “Hello, Adam. Mr Parrish. Mr…Beaker Bro? I’m sorry, I don’t know what to call you.”

“Adam’s fine,” Adam said with a patient and public-practiced smile.

“Adam.” Gansey smiled again, but he was clearly flustered, a side of him that didn’t get seen by many. He really _must_ have been a big fan of Adam’s. “I’m Gansey, by the way. Ronan wasn’t rude, was he? I told him not to come over here, I hope he isn’t bothering you,” Gansey said anxiously.

“I’m not a fucking toddler,” Ronan grumbled.

Adam glanced at him sidelong and quirked a smile, then looked back up at Gansey. “He called me Bill Nye. Does that count as rude?”

Gansey gasped, and Adam did laugh this time, just a little. He held up a placating hand. “No, he’s fine. He’s not bothering me. I like Bill Nye.”

“See?” Ronan said petulantly, crossing his arms at Gansey.

“Yes, alright, Ronan.” Gansey sat on Adam’s other side and then launched into an explanation of how he’d discovered the Beaker Bros videos during a particularly bad bout of insomnia, and had been an avid watcher ever since. Adam listened attentively, and never once looked bored or like he wanted Gansey to just fuck off and leave him alone. Ronan watched quietly; everything they were saying went over his head as he was entirely unfamiliar with the Beaker Bros (which was a stupid name), but Gansey passionate was always better than Gansey despondent, and there was something about Adam specifically that kept drawing Ronan’s attention.

It was the shadows under his bright, blue eyes that indicated a poor sleeping schedule; it was the dusting of freckles across his nose and cheeks; it was the slight downturn of his mouth in resting mode, like a perpetual frown; it was his sandy-coloured hair, ruffling in the breeze.

Ronan internally cursed himself when he realised he’d been waxing lyrical about a complete stranger inside his head. It was stupid; beyond this conversation, he’d never see Adam again.

And yet there was _something;_ something quiet and understated that had Ronan wanting to know more. Adam seemed an odd fit for one half of a celebrity duo.

It wasn’t long until muted chatter and incoming footsteps drew their attention, and they looked up to see Adam’s companions  returning with takeaway coffee cups.

The other half of the Beaker Bros grinned brilliantly. “Adam! Who’re your new friends?”

Adam jerked his thumb to his left, “This is Gansey,” and then to the right, “and this is Ronan. Guys, these are my friends, Henry and Blue.”

Gansey leapt to his feet and exuberantly shook Henry’s hand. “I watch the Beaker Bros all the time.”

“Oh!” If possible, Henry’s grin spread wider. “You’re fans of the show?”

“Well, Gansey is,” Adam said. “Ronan has no idea who we are.”

“How refreshing,” Blue said. She handed Adam a coffee and sat down in the space Gansey had just vacated. “Honestly, Adam, it’s usually Henry who picks up strays.”

“I think it was Ronan who picked up Adam actually,” Gansey said good-naturedly.

Henry shot a gleeful look at Ronan. “Oh _really?”_

Ronan face-palmed. “Gansey…”

“I, uh, don’t think he meant it like that,” Adam told his friends mildly. Ronan noted the faint blush, though.

“So,” Blue said. “Are you two, like, cool weird, or stalkery weird?”

Gansey looked horrified. “Oh, we’re definitely not stalkers or anything.”

“That’s what a stalker would say,” Blue returned easily. She didn’t look concerned. There was an amused quirk of her eyebrow that suggested she was enjoying herself.

Ronan elected to not help Gansey at all; he leaned back further against the bench and watched Gansey struggle to explain how he and Ronan were definitely not stalking the Beaker Bros through New York City.

Before long, he trailed off. Henry laughed delightedly and put an arm around Gansey’s shoulders, proclaiming, “This guy’s _great.”_

Blue swiveled back around to Adam, who apparently got the final say.

He shrugged. “They’re cool weird.” He looked at Ronan, and Ronan lifted one shoulder in reluctant agreement. “I think.”

“Magnanimous praise,” Blue said.

“Excellent.” Henry released Gansey and clapped his hands together authoritatively. “We’re going to the Natural History Museum. Wanna come?”

 

* * *

 

 

Ronan did _not_ particularly want to go to the American Museum of Natural History, but Gansey had practically lit up like a Christmas tree at the prospect of hanging out with his heroes, and it was hard to say no to that face.

As they walked through the park in the direction of the museum, Henry and Blue strode off ahead, Gansey sandwiched between them. Blue seemed reluctantly charmed by Gansey, whilst Henry came by it naturally, happily fielding questions Gansey asked about the inner workings of the Beaker Bros.

Ronan remained a few steps behind them, pausing every so often to take a photograph. Just snapshots; nothing special.

Adam fell into step beside him.

“Are you a photographer?”

Ronan tilted his head to the side, considering. In the end, he said, “I sure do have a camera.”

“That…doesn’t really answer the question.”

“I take a lot of pictures. And sometimes people buy them. So make of that what you will.”

Adam rolled his eyes brilliantly. “You sound like a pretentious ass,” he said, which made Ronan laugh. “Do you have a gallery to display your stuff?”

“Yes. In Boston. My little brother runs it.”

“So you have a gallery and people pay for your photographs, yet you’re unwilling to actually call yourself a photographer?”

Ronan shrugged. “I do a lot of things. I have a farm.”

“Really?” Adam raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

“Virginia. Family farm. My mom runs it mainly because I’m on the move a lot. But I go home as often as I can.”

“Huh.” Adam’s expression did something strange. “I used to live in Virginia.” He glanced at Ronan and smiled, although it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Small world.”

“Guess so.” Ronan sensed Adam didn’t really want to talk about his roots. “Where’s home now?”

“L.A.”

Ronan wrinkled his nose distastefully. “Gross.”

“Tell me about it,” Adam said wryly. “It’s for work, and it’s just for now. Hopefully not forever.”  

“So, for work, you and Henry make science videos?” Ronan asked, and Adam nodded.

“We do science experiments and we go on field trips. We try and keep it fun but educational. Our tag line is literally: ‘Making science fun and easy, the Beaker Bros way’.”

“That’s fucking _terrible.”_

“In fairness, we didn’t write that part.”

“Oh yeah,” Ronan said. “Because you work for…Buzzfeed?”

Adam sighed. “I know, I know, Buzzfeed is terrible. You’re preaching to the choir.”

“Hey, I’m not preaching. Just a question. Like I said, I’ve never seen your videos. I thought Buzzfeed was just full of those quizzes that tell you what kind of fucking…fruit or whatever you’d be.”

“Well, it is,” Adam said. “But there’s other departments too and some of them are kinda cool, I dunno.”

“How did you even _get_ that gig?”

Adam groaned. “It’s a long story.”

“Got nothing but time, Parrish.” They were coming to the edge of the park now, the museum was just across the street.

“Okay,” said Adam. “So, me and Henry shared a chemistry class in college and we got paired up together for a project. We couldn’t decide what to do and we’d been going back and forth for hours trying to decide, and then Henry just goes, “Let’s make a video” and I was _just_ that kind of tired where I thought it was the best idea I’d ever heard. So we made the video, which was basically us doing some chemistry experiment,  our Professor _loved_ it, and he encouraged us to post it on YouTube so we did."

Adam stopped talking and wandered over to a trash-can they were passing and threw away his coffee cup, then caught back up to Ronan and continued.

"For whatever reason it got super popular, and because it had been so much fun to make, we made a few more. Obviously we were both so busy with school but we always tried to carve out a little time for it, and we managed about one a semester. We figured once we graduated that was it, but then Buzzfeed got in touch and offered us positions there.” Adam shrugged. “It was a paid position doing something I already knew I enjoyed doing, with my friend, and this time with an actual decent budget and production value and a crew — which included Blue — and it just made sense at the time.”

Adam sort of trailed off as they reached the crosswalk, and Ronan let the silence dangle for a minute before prodding, “And now?”

“Now, Henry and Blue and I have been talking about leaving and just doing it ourselves, without being affiliated with Buzzfeed anymore. It’s just…it’s a big risk, that’s all.”

“Working for yourselves?”

“Yeah. At least at Buzzfeed, we get paid whether or not people watch our videos. If we’re on our own and the numbers drop off, then we might lose sponsors, and if we lose sponsors, we don’t get paid.”

“Would it be worth it?” Ronan asked. “To be your own boss?”

Adam hesitated, then breathed out, “Yes. I think it would.”

“Then if you want the advice of a total stranger, I think you should say ‘fuck it’ and do it.”

Adam laughed lightly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They had now arrived at the steps outside the museum, where a small crowd had already gathered waiting to go inside. There were a few minutes to go until opening, but at least it was early enough that it wouldn’t be too busy for a little while.

While they were waiting, a few obvious whispers went up around the crowd, and a few teenagers tentatively approached Henry and Adam and asked for a picture. They indulged, and afterwards Henry held court with their, well, _fans,_ Ronan supposed he had to call them, for a couple of minutes.

Adam gradually faded out of the group until he arrived back by Ronan’s side. “Henry’s always been better at that kind of thing than me,” he murmured, watching curiously.

“Do you get recognised a lot then?”

Adam shrugged. “Kind of. Sometimes we can tell we’ve been recognised because people stare or whisper to their friends, but they don’t always come up to us. It’s never that bad when they do, and it doesn’t cause a scene or anything, mainly because there’s always plenty of people around who have no idea who we are and don’t understand what the fuss is about.”

“Do you ever get stopped when you’re on your own?”

Adam shook his head. “I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had people coming up to me if I’m on my own, it’s almost always when I’m with Henry. He gets stopped on his own more. I don’t know if it’s because I’m less recognisable without him, or if it’s because people think I don’t look very approachable.”

 _“I_ approached you,” Ronan pointed out, and Adam shot him a wry smile.

“Yeah well, you’re weird, clearly.”

 _“Hey,”_ Ronan smirked. “D’you always talk to your fans like that?”

“You don’t count, you’re not a fan.”

Ronan laughed. “That’s fair.”

The museum doors opened and people started to queue up, Henry’s new friends shuffling back to rejoin their own groups.

Blue prodded Gansey in the arm. “We have pre-paid city passes, but are you guys gonna have to wait in line for tickets for ages?”

“Oh, no, we’re fine,” Gansey said.

“Gansey has a _membership,”_ Ronan said derisively.

“So do you,” Gansey said cheerfully over his shoulder.

Ronan scowled. “Only because you drag me here every time I’m in the city.”

“I drag you here every time you’re in the city _because_ you have a membership.”

“Ooooh, it’s like what came first, the chicken or the egg?” Henry said.

In unison, Ronan and Adam said, “The egg,” then exchanged a look. And a small smile.

They both averted their gaze; Ronan’s unfortunately landed on Blue who was watching with vague amusement. He crossed his arms and glared, and she smirked, not backing away from their staring competition. It was a draw in the end, interrupted by the moving of the queue.

Once they were through security and inside proper, Henry flipped through the little guide he’d picked up.

“There’s a space exhibition!” he exclaimed, brandishing the guide in Adam’s face. “A space exhibition, Adam!”

Adam leaned his head back lest he get unwittingly hit in the face with the guidebook. “I see that.”

“We should go there first,” Blue said. “Right? Before it gets too busy?”

“Excellent idea,” Gansey said. “It’s this way.” He strode off, Henry and Blue hot on his heels.

Adam slowly started after them, but Ronan turned the other way, heading for the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Adam called, and Ronan looked over his shoulder. Adam had hesitated in his tracks. “We’ll lose them.”

“So run,” Ronan said, shrugging half-heartedly. “They haven’t gone far, you’ll catch up.”

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Nah,” Ronan shook his head. “I’m going up to the dinosaur level. Gansey’ll know where I’ve gone.” He paused, and then in a tone he hoped feigned his indifference, said, “I guess you can come, if you want.”

Adam smiled, and Ronan almost felt his composure break. “Okay.”

They walked up the stairs in silence, but it surprisingly wasn’t uncomfortable. When they’d reached the floor Ronan wanted, Adam took his time, looking at all the displays and reading all the information provided beside them.

Ronan never really bothered reading those parts, but he quite liked watching Adam do it. He seemed engrossed, brow furrowed as he took it all in, seemingly completely oblivious to goings on around him. They were in a darker section of the museum, but the light behind the display was bright, highlighting Adam’s features while the rest of him was shrouded in shadow.

The contrast was too good; Ronan lifted his camera to his face.

Adam heard the click and looked around just as Ronan was lowering the camera. _Real subtle, Lynch,_ he thought.

“Did you just take a picture of me?” Adam asked, and although there was nothing accusatory in his tone, Ronan couldn’t exactly _lie._

“Do you mind?” he said instead, fully prepared to delete it if he’d made Adam uncomfortable.

Adam turned back to the display, a half-smile on his lips. “No.”

Ronan _really_ hoped he wasn’t blushing, but the warmth on his cheeks suggested otherwise.

They carried on making their way through, sometimes quietly, but sometimes sharing words. Ronan found out that Adam, Henry, and Blue weren’t in Manhattan for work purposes, and had just wanted to take a mini-vacation that had nothing to do with the Beaker Bros for a change.

“I gotta ask, Parrish,” Ronan said. “The _Beaker Bros?_ Really?”

Adam groaned. “Trust me, the name was all Henry. I know it’s awful, but it stuck.”

“It _is_ pretty fucking awful,” Ronan agreed. “But in a good way, I guess.”

“Yeah?” Adam smiled again; Ronan was enjoying these smiles.

“Yeah. It’s cheesy. Cheesy’s good, sometimes.”

They continued strolling through the exhibit, until they reached Ronan’s favourite part.

“Parrish, look. This dude’s the best, I love him.” Behind the glass display unit was a model of a giant prehistoric newt…thing. It had the most disgruntled expression Ronan had ever seen. “I feel you, buddy,” he said to the newt, and took a picture.

“Oh wow, the resemblance is _uncanny,”_ Adam said, looking between Ronan and the newt.

“Well gee, thanks, Parrish,” Ronan drawled. “I like your face too.”

Adam’s blush was more obvious this time, and it was clear that both of them had noticed. Ronan adjusted the camera strap around his neck just to have something to do with his hands, and then the moment had passed.

“Alright, I’m just about done here,” Ronan said. “Do you wanna go find the others?”

“I’m cool with whatever,” Adam said, which seemed to give Ronan got the impression there were other options on the table, and he had a sudden thought.

Ronan had a sudden thought. “Parrish, is this your first time in NYC?”

Adam smiled self-deprecatingly. “Is it that obvious?”

“When did you get here?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“And when do you leave?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

Ronan felt his chest clench. Adam was leaving so soon already, even though Ronan himself would be leaving the day after anyway.

“Well, we could stay here if you want, and you can go around all the exhibits and it’ll take fucking hours.”

“…I’m sensing an ‘or’,” Adam said carefully.

Ronan rubbed a hand over his buzzed head, and took a breath. “Do you wanna get out of here?”

 

* * *

 

 

“Fuck, I just realised,” Ronan said about half an hour later. “Henry and Blue aren’t going to think I kidnapped you, are they?” He and Adam were walking up through Central Park. They’d come out by 8th Avenue if they kept up this trajectory.

Adam snorted. “I think I’d be more worried about Henry and Blue kidnapping _Gansey_ if I were you.”

Ronan grinned. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“I already sent a message to Blue anyway, so they know I’m with you.”

“Did she reply?”

“She did.”

“What did she say?”

Adam smiled. “I’m not telling you.”

Ronan raised an eyebrow. “Okay, Parrish, keep your secrets. Where do you wanna go, anyway?”

Adam’s gaze wandered while he thought about it, and then he said, “All the touristy places, are they worth seeing?”

Ronan shrugged. “Well, yeah, they’re worth seeing at least _once,_ if just to say you’ve _seen_ them. But you don’t have enough time on this trip to see everything, so we’ll have to narrow it down.”

“Okay. No museums,” Adam said, and Ronan could have kissed him. “We went to the MoMa yesterday, and after the science museum…I’m just museumed out, I think. I’ll save the others for the next time I’m here. As for everything else…I’m not sure. You’ve been here before, obviously. Do you know your way around?”

“I used to come all the time with my family,” Ronan said. “And now I just come when I’m visiting Gansey, he’s at grad school at NYU. So yeah, I know my way around.”

“Then I’ll defer to your judgment.”

Ronan couldn’t help but laugh. “Not many people defer to my judgment, Parrish.”

“Ah, well,” Adam said. “I trust you.”

The words, said so off-hand, made Ronan feel unbalanced for a moment. What was he doing here with Adam, really? What was the aim? What was the _point?_

He swallowed it down. “Alright, Parrish, first thing’s first.”

“And what’s that?”

“Pizza.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ronan took Adam to a place that sold pizza by the slice, and they ate them on the move. When they finished, Adam pulled Ronan into a second-hand bookstore that they were passing.

Ronan usually got restless in places like this, but with Adam he didn’t mind so much. Adam took his time looking around, and so Ronan scoped out the comic section. He found a couple of old gems that Matthew would probably appreciate, paid for them, then tracked Adam down somewhere near the back of the store.

Adam didn’t say anything when Ronan caught up to him, utterly engrossed in whatever dusty old book he was poring through. Ronan took another picture; the slight up-quirk of Adam’s mouth was the only sign he had noticed.

They spent the better part of an hour in there, and all Adam bought was a battered old copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

“I liked the cover,” he explained when he saw Ronan’s quizzical look.

“Not supposed to judge books by their covers, Parrish,” Ronan said.

“That,” Adam said, giving Ronan a considered look, “is very true.”

They walked a little further before Ronan pulled Adam to a stop. “Okay, we’re on 7th right now so if we keep heading this way we’re gonna hit Times Square. D’you wanna see it?”

Ronan wasn’t too much of a fan, but this was Adam’s day, after all.

After a brief pause, Adam asked, “Will it be busy?”

“It’s Times Square, Parrish, it’s _always_ busy. Not to mention it’s fuckin’ Saturday.” He frowned. “Why? Do you not like crowds?”

“They’re fine,” Adam said. He looked a little embarrassed. “I just don’t want to get lost,” he said to his shoes.

Ronan was helplessly endeared. “Stick with me. You’ll be fine.”

Times Square, when they reached it, was every bit as busy as Ronan had suspected it would be. Busier, in fact; everyone was stopping and getting in each other’s way to take photographs of themselves with the billboards as backgrounds.

Adam stopped and did a twirl, giving himself the full 360 view. He caught Ronan’s eye.

“It’s weird when you recognise something so well, but you’ve never actually seen it in person before. It’s…” He trailed off and spun in another circle. “It’s a lot.”

A passing pedestrian bumped Adam’s left shoulder from behind, making Adam jump, and Ronan stepped closer. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Adam said, but he sounded a little off. “I just…I can’t hear out of my left ear. He surprised me, is all.”

“Oh,” Ronan replied. Adam took an almost imperceptible step closer to Ronan, looking back out over the square and all the people. Ronan suspected he was in sensory overload; it was a lot to take in. He reached down and took Adam’s hand. “Come on.”

Adam didn’t pull away; he let Ronan lead him over to a crosswalk, and once they’d made it over, Ronan carved out a path through all the people, cut up one of the side-streets and stopped in front of an Irish pub.

“Fancy a drink?”

Inside, they managed to find seats right at the end of the bar, and each ordered a Guinness.

“So,” Adam said, after taking a sip and pulling a face. “You have a farm in Virginia, and you have a gallery of your work in Boston. But where’s home?”

“The farm’s home.”

“Right, but where do you _live?”_

It wasn’t a question with a particularly straightforward answer. “I split time between the Barns — that’s the farm — and Boston. When I’m in Boston I sleep in my brother’s spare room. And obviously if I’m traveling for work stuff or whatever I’m in hotels. If I’m here, I stay with Gansey. I don’t _technically_ have my own place.”

Adam scrunched his nose up in confusion. “So, if home is Virginia, then why is your gallery in _Boston?”_

Ronan sighed. “See, Parrish, the thing about the gallery, is I never fucking wanted it. I was happy doing my own thing and I had an online shop and everything, and once that was going pretty well, my older brother Declan insisted I set up a physical gallery for it. After he graduated from college in D.C. he moved to Boston for a job, so that’s where he was living, and he found a space for it and everything. I still wasn’t interested because I didn’t want to be tied to staying there all the time, but then my little brother, Matthew, said he wanted to run it for me.” He shrugged. “I said if he _really_ wanted to then fine, we could set it up and see how it went, but if he ever wanted to go and do something else, or if it wasn’t pulling in any money, then we’d shut up shop, no big deal.”

“…But it’s been going okay?” Adam asked when Ronan fell silent.

“Yeah, I guess. It pulls in enough to cover the lease for the space and pay Matthew’s wages, and he seems happy there because he likes being close to Declan, plus it’s flexible enough for him to go home and visit Mom pretty regularly. And obviously it means I’m checking in plenty of times to help re-stock and everything.”

“So it’s a real family affair then,” Adam said, almost wistfully.

“Do you still have family? Back in Virginia?”

“I assume so,” Adam said, which was a vague enough answer to give Ronan the idea that there was for sure a story there, and it was not for Ronan to ask when he’d just met Adam this morning. Whatever the deal was though, it was clearly a source of pain for Adam, and Ronan didn’t want to make him think of bad memories.

“Do you like Lego, Parrish?” he asked.

“Of course I like Lego. Who doesn’t like Lego?”

Ronan grinned. “Finish your pint.”

After they left, Ronan took Adam to the Lego Store at the Rockefeller Centre, which was (of course) busy, but Ronan stayed close enough to Adam’s side as he browsed to ward off anyone who might bump into him. Adam didn’t buy anything, which made sense as it was all crazy expensive, but he seemed to enjoy himself nonetheless.

From there, they doubled back to the M&M store where Adam got a bag of all green M&Ms.

Thanks to the amount of time all the walking around had taken them, it was already almost 6pm by the time they were finished there.

“Y’know, if we hop on the subway now, and it’s not crazy busy at the Empire State Building, we might make it up there in time for the sunset. Best time to go,” Ronan said.

“Yeah? You wanna go?” Adam looked eager, his eyes bright and excited. Ronan felt impending heartache.

 _Adam lives in L.A._ he told himself sternly. _Adam lives in fucking Los Angeles. This is going nowhere._

Out loud, he said, “Sure. May as well.”

As soon as they got on the train, Adam took his phone out, and a moment later he started laughing.

“Oh my God. Henry’s snap story.”

Ronan looked at Adam blankly. “His _what?”_

“Jesus, Ronan, are you ninety years old? Do you know what Snapchat is?”

“…I’ve heard of it.”

Adam smiled and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like _“adorable”_ which Ronan categorically was _not,_ and he rolled his eyes. Adam leaned closer so Ronan could see his phone. “Look.”

On the screen played a slideshow of snapshots that Ronan recognised as being taken at the Natural History Museum. The first one was of Gansey, caught mid-explanation of something if his enthusiastic expression was anything to go by, captioned: **adam ditched us so there’s a NEW beaker bro in town**

The next was a selfie of Henry and Blue sporting matching big grins: **only joking adam we love you**

The rest weren’t captioned (except for one, which Ronan was pleased to see was of his favourite disgruntled giant newt. Henry had simply written: **#same** ), but just showed a stream of photos; some had Blue and Gansey in them, some of them showed exhibits, an awful lot were just selfies of Henry.

The last one was a video of the three of them walking down the steps outside the museum, Blue in the middle sing-songing, “Adam and Ronan, where the fuck are youuuu?”

“Uh oh,” Ronan said, amused. “They coming to find you? Did you have plans?”

“We were just gonna go with the flow, nothing set in stone,” Adam said. “Hang on, I’ll call them.”

Ronan checked his own phone while he waited; there was a couple of missed calls and several messages from Gansey, the most recent of which just said: **Ronan! Check in please!**

He merely replied: **all good dick calm down**

As he was sitting so closely, he couldn’t help but overhear Adam’s half of his phone conversation even though he wasn’t trying to eavesdrop.

“Hi, Blue. Are you having fun with Gansey?” A smile. “Good … No, no, I’m fine … We’re on the subway, yeah. We’re going to the Empire State Building.” A glance at Ronan. “I don’t know.” A blush. “I said I don’t _know,_ would you — _shhh!”_ Another glance at Ronan. “Look, just go on without us, have fun, and I’ll call you later when I know what’s going on.” Adam listened intently for a bit, as whatever Blue was saying now was clearly lengthy. His brow furrowed. “I _know_ that, Blue … Okay. I’ll catch up with you guys later. Bye.”

He hung up and sighed heavily, then turned to Ronan. “Sorry about that.”

Ronan gestured toward the phone. “She worried about you?”

“Nah,” Adam said. “Just reminding me to be sensible.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of person who’d need reminding of that.”

“No,” Adam said thoughtfully, and he looked away. “Not usually.” Then he smiled. “Gansey’s taking them out somewhere to eat later and then for drinks. They asked if we wanted to meet them?”

Ronan stood up; they were approaching their stop. “Empire State first, other plans later.”

He held out his hand, and Adam took it.

 

* * *

 

 

By some absolute fluke, the Empire State Building wasn’t even that busy. There were people, because there were _always_ people, but even though Adam had a city pass that he could use for his ticket and Ronan had to line up to get his separately, it still didn’t take that long to get through. It was the security checks that took a bit longer, having to put all their belongings through the scanner.

The elevator up was pretty cramped. Ronan stood in the corner with Adam pressed right up against him and he tried not to think about it.

When they stepped out on the 82nd floor, a teenage boy who was with his family and who had been shooting Adam looks throughout the security lines and the elevator ride, finally approached him.

“Are you Adam Parrish? From the Beaker Bros?”

“Yes,” Adam said, and smiled politely.

“I thought so,” he said, very seriously. “Where’s Henry?”

“Uh, I’m not sure exactly? He’s somewhere in the city.”

The boy nodded, started to turn back to his family, but then he stopped and almost as an afterthought, he said, “I really like your videos. They’re funny but you learn something. I like that.”

Adam’s smile this time was much less forced politeness, and much more genuine. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

The boy nodded once more for good measure, then off he went.

Adam glanced at Ronan, a little sheepish.

“Huh,” Ronan said. “I guess you really are famous.”

“Just _barely,”_ Adam replied dryly, and Ronan laughed.

“C’mon,” he said. “The sun’ll start going down in a minute.”

Out on the observation deck, they spotted a space in front of the railings that was virtually deserted and made a beeline for it. The cityscape lay before them, the sky starting to turn a dusky pink as the sun lowered in the sky.

Ronan took some pictures. He loved it up here; it felt like another world almost.

“Wow,” Adam said. “Sunset was a good choice.” He hadn’t yet looked away from the view, his eyes transfixed on the brightening city lights as the sky steadily grew ever darker. He was almost impossible to resist like this, and Ronan snapped yet another photo of him. He was dreading to think how many pictures of Adam he’d taken today.

“Ronan,” Adam said, turning his head to meet Ronan’s eyes. There was a yearning in his voice as he asked, “Do you ever come to L.A.?”

“Only once in a blue fucking moon, Parrish,” Ronan admitted. “I’ve never…I’ve never really had a reason to. Before.”

Adam’s face fell just a little, but he nodded. Cautiously, he interlocked his fingers with Ronan’s, then stared back out at the city. “Thank you for today. It was—” He stopped, then cleared his throat. “It was a pretty perfect day.”

Ronan squeezed his fingers. “Anytime, Parrish,” he said, and hoped Adam could tell how much Ronan meant it.

It was strange to stand there together, hand in hand, both knowing that there was _something_ brewing between them, and yet both unwilling to act on it. Adam seemed too sensible to do so, and Ronan? He was just too scared of getting his heart broken.

“You don’t feel like a stranger,” Adam said after a while. “Which is weird, right? I only met you this morning. And yet you’ve been calling me ‘Parrish’ all day and it doesn’t feel weird. It should feel weird.”

“I guess.”

“It feels like this was always supposed to happen.”

“Or it’s just a coincidence,” Ronan said, because it wasn’t. Everything Adam was saying meant sense, even though it shouldn’t have. Ronan smiled wryly. “You believe in fate, then?”

“No,” Adam said. “Not usually.” He peered up at Ronan out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe I just believe in you.”

 

* * *

 

 

They left the Empire State Building following a brief stop at the gift shop where Adam purchased an Empire State Building keyring — (”Really stocking up on the tacky souvenirs, huh, Parrish?”)— and once outside, Adam admitted that he didn’t particularly want to go and meet up with Gansey and the others.

Instead, they hopped on the subway and got off near Greenwich Village, picked up some takeout, then walked from there to Gansey’s apartment.

When they got to the right building and Adam became aware that this was where they were going, he stopped short.

“This…does not look like your standard student digs.”

“Ah, well, Gansey’s not your standard student.”

Adam let out a low whistle. “Okay. So Gansey’s rich, then,” he said, eliciting a sharp laugh from Ronan.

“Nah, Parrish, _I’m_ rich. Gansey’s like…Scrooge McDuck rich.” He nudged Adam’s elbow. “C’mon, let’s go up, my feet are fucking killing me.”

Ronan had a spare key to Gansey’s place, as often when he came to stay he either arrived very late, or left very early, and this way he could come and go without disturbing Gansey. Not that it was ever an issue; Gansey barely slept as it was. He and Ronan had that in common.

As grand as it was from the outside, the inside of Gansey’s apartment was much more…well, _Gansey._ There were piles of books all over the place; on the floor, on the bookshelves, and even more piled up haphazardly on the desk beside a mint plant. The kitchen was tidy mainly because it was rarely used, but everywhere else there was clutter. Gansey had various insomnia related projects on the go.

There was a TV and a sofa on the opposite end to the kitchen, and a pool table somewhere in between them, with yet _more_ books piled on top. Two doors leading to two bedrooms with en-suites were at the back behind the living room area.

“He has a _pool table?”_ Adam said.

“He’s not very good.” Ronan puffed his chest out proudly. _“I_ am though.”

“Oh, I have no doubt.”

They sat down on the sofa and dug into their takeout, both famished after all the walking they had done today. There seemed to be some sort of unspoken agreement that Adam would be sleeping there that night, without either of them bringing it up, so when they had finished eating Ronan grabbed Adam a spare towel and found some of Gansey’s more ‘slovenly’ clothes (sweats and a hoodie) for him to change into afterwards.

While Adam was showering, Ronan threw away their trash then checked his camera. The battery was low so he took it out and left it in the spare room to charge. He’d have to look at the photos later.

He took his turn in the shower after Adam had finished, and found him curled up on one end of the sofa when he got out, slowly and sleepily making his way through the green M&Ms he’d bought earlier. Ronan sat down heavily beside him and held his hand out expectantly. Adam poured M&Ms into it.

“How long are you here for?” Adam asked.

“I’m driving down to Boston on Monday morning.”

“Driving?”

“Yup. My car’s in the parking garage downstairs.”

“So you’ll be heading to Boston…”

“For a couple of days. And then back home, and then…who knows, really. We’ll see what happens.”

Adam shook his head wonderingly. “I can’t imagine having so little structure.”

“It’s a routine in it’s own way,” Ronan said, then grinned. “I’ve never been one for a rigid structure though.”

“You must’ve _hated_ school.”

Ronan laughed harshly. “I dropped out of high-school in my senior year, so, yeah. Top marks for you, Parrish.”

Adam smiled. “Well, I _did_ always get top marks.”

“Course you did. Nerd.”

Conversation was in fits and starts after that, but it wasn’t in an uncomfortable way. They were both tired and lethargic and comfortable, and when Adam slipped off to sleep for good with his legs draped across Ronan’s lap, Ronan had just about the presence of mind to set an alarm before he slumped over to the side and fell asleep.

At some point in the night Ronan was vaguely aware of other people coming into the apartment; Gansey must have said Blue and Henry could stop for the night too. He didn’t open his eyes but he heard someone — Henry, he thought — say, “Awwww!” as they walked past, as the other two hushed him just as noisily.

Without opening his eyes, Ronan grumbled, “F’ck off. Sleepin’.”

Blue broke into fits of giggles, and Gansey whispered an apology. A moment later, two separate doors slammed, and not long after that, all fell silent.

Adam, miraculously, remained undisturbed, even as Ronan absently squeezed his leg as if to make sure he was still there. He drifted off again.

Ronan’s alarm going off was an unwelcome surprise, and being as he could tell it wasn’t quite dawn, he initially wasn’t sure why he’d set it for that early. But then he spotted Adam and it all came rushing back to him.

“Parrish.” He shook Adam’s shoulder gently, and Adam woke up in a start, looking irritated.

“Is it as early as it feels?” he said hoarsely.

“Earlier, probably,” Ronan replied, unconcerned. “Get up, I wanna show you something.”

Adam grumbled incoherently, but he _did_ get up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. So Adam wasn’t a morning person, which was a fact Ronan would have liked to have learned under different circumstances, not when Adam was in all likelihood vanishing from Ronan’s life forever later that day.

Ronan led Adam out of Gansey’s apartment and up the stairs to the roof access. All the residents had a designated little area up there, and all that was in Gansey’s was two deck-chairs, close to the railing, but East facing, which was ideal for Ronan’s purposes.

“We saw the sunset,” he explained. “It’s almost time for sunrise.”

Adam looked between the deck-chairs and Ronan, and an impossibly gorgeous smile spread across his face.

“You ever been told that you’re a real sap?”

“Fuck you,” Ronan said without heat. “I wouldn’t do this for just anyone.”

“Ronan,” Adam said softly, but then didn’t seem to know how to finish, and he sat down in one of the chairs.

Once Ronan had sat down beside him, Adam scooched his chair along until he was as close to Ronan’s as he could get and dropped his head down onto Ronan’s shoulder, exhaling noisily.

“This sunrise better be worth it. It’s so _early.”_

“You are a fucking delight in the mornings, I see.”

“I’m a fucking delight _always,”_ Adam grumbled, which Ronan didn’t even remotely believe. Then again, that was part of Adam’s appeal as far as Ronan was concerned.

His heart hurt already. But for now, Adam was solid and real and right beside him, and it had to be enough.

A few minutes later, the sky started to lighten, and then the telltale orangey pink glow spread across the sky.

Ronan turned his face towards Adam, his lips just brushing against Adam’s hair where his head lay upon Ronan’s shoulder. “Adam,” he whispered. “You’re missing it.”

“Hmm?” Adam mumbled. He lifted his head a little. “What?”

“Open your eyes. It’s time.”

Adam blinked his eyes open; he looked at Ronan, then he looked at the skyline, the actual shape of the top of the sun just poking its head above the horizon.

He turned back to Ronan, and his eyes dropped to Ronan’s lips. Slowly, he leaned in, Ronan’s eyes closing automatically as Adam kissed him softly; quickly. Then he kissed him a second time.

“Parrish,” Ronan said, dazed. “We’re missing it.”

“It’s just a sunrise.” Adam smiled sleepily. “There’ll be more.”

He kissed Ronan again, and then settled his head back down on Ronan’s shoulder. “It is pretty, though,” he murmured.

Ronan lightly rested his head on Adam’s. “Yeah,” he said, and closed his eyes, falling asleep before the sun had even fully risen.

 

* * *

 

 

A loud bang woke both Ronan and Adam with a start some indeterminable amount of time later.

 _“There_ you are,” Blue exclaimed, and they both turned their heads to see her. She looked furious, and Ronan instantly knew something was wrong. “Adam, we have to go, we need to get our stuff and check out of the hotel because there’s a taxi coming to take us to the airport in an _hour.”_

Adam was on his feet in an instant. “What? What _time_ is it?”

“It’s just after midday. You two idiots left your phones downstairs and we had no idea where you _were,_ Gansey’s only just thought to suggest up here.”

“Oh shit. Oh, shit, I’m sorry, Blue.”

“Okay, it’s fine,” she said, harried, then glanced quickly between Ronan and Adam. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’ll see you downstairs. But you gotta hurry, Adam, or else we’ll miss our flight. Gansey got an Uber to take us to our hotel.” She flounced off back towards the door, pausing just to say, “It was nice to meet you, Ronan. Thanks for looking after Adam.”

“Don’t mention it,” Ronan said, or thought he said, but then Blue was already gone and he was standing up with Adam before him looking utterly stricken. Oh, _God._ Was this it?

“Fuck,” Adam said, running a hand through his hair. _“Fuck,_ I thought we’d have more time.”

It was self-preservation more than anything that had Ronan close himself off immediately. “Your flight, Parrish,” he said coldly.

Adam reached out. “Ronan?”

Ronan took half a step backwards. “You shouldn’t keep your friends waiting. You have a flight to catch.”

Adam’s gaze hardened immediately, but it couldn’t disguise the hurt. “Right,” he said bitterly. “My _flight.”_ He stomped off after Blue, but hesitated before opening the door.

He looked over his shoulder back at Ronan. “Really? Is ‘you have a flight to catch’ really all you want to say to me?”

Ronan shrugged, hating himself. “There doesn’t seem much point in saying anything else.”

“I guess not,” Adam snapped, then wrenched the door open. “Thanks for the lovely fucking day.”

And then he was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

It was a while before Ronan came down from the roof, and when he did, all traces of Adam had vanished from the apartment. Just the memory of him remained.

Gansey was sitting on his desk, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. There was a mug of coffee beside him, and he was wearing jeans and a band t-shirt that Ronan had given him, which is how Ronan could tell how hungover he was.

“You feeling alright, Dick?” he asked, and Gansey opened his eyes.

“My head hurts,” he admitted. He watched as Ronan perched on the edge of the pool table, and then said delicately, “Did you say something to Adam before they left?”

Ronan sighed and dropped back so he was lying on the pool table, his legs dangling off the edge. “Why do you ask?”

“He seemed…upset. I just…I know how you get, Ronan, and—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Ronan said. “I already know I fucked up, you don’t have to rub it in.”

“I’m not,” Gansey said reproachfully. After a silence, he continued, “Henry and Blue think that Adam really must have taken a shine to you. Maybe it’s worth it to—”

“He lives in L.A., Gansey,” Ronan interrupted, getting to his feet so fast he gave himself a headrush. “And I don’t.”

“I know that, Ronan,” Gansey said gently. “But that doesn’t mean—”

“Gansey, _don’t,”_ Ronan snapped. He went to the spare room before Gansey could say anything else, then quickly got changed, remembering to grab his now charged camera before leaving again.

“I’m going out,” he said. Then, because he felt bad for snapping when Gansey was only trying to help, gruffly added, “I’ll pick up food on my way back, yeah?”

Gansey smiled, although he looked concerned. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ronan wandered around with no clear idea as to where he was going for upwards of an hour, before finally hopping on the subway and caving into an impulse he knew was only going to make him miserable.

The Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park looked much the same as at had done the day before, and Ronan sat down on the bench where, approximately twenty-nine hours earlier, he had approached Adam Parrish and called him Bill Nye.

He should never have gone over to him. He shouldn’t have gone when Henry invited them along to the museum. He shouldn’t have told Adam he could join him when they got to the museum, and he _definitely_ shouldn’t have taken Adam on what was, for all intents and purposes, a date across New York City.

But it didn’t matter that he shouldn’t have done any of those things, because he _had_ done them, and if he could go back, he’d do them all over again. So what if he was now going to be moping around for the foreseeable future. At least he’d had one day with Adam.

His camera was a familiar and comforting weight around his neck, and Ronan turned it on and began flipping through the photographs.

There were so many of Adam. So many more than Ronan could remember taking. Adam on the subway, holding onto the pole and looking at his phone; Adam staring slack-jawed out at the view of the city from the Empire State Building; Adam in the pub drinking a Guinness; Adam lost in thought at the bookshop; Adam, Adam, Adam.

When he reached the first one that he’d taken at the museum, Ronan turned his camera off. How did he go back to normal, now, knowing that Adam was in the world?

Ronan wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there. He’d been staring at the ground, stuck in his own head for so long that he didn’t even notice he was no longer alone until a pair of shoes stepped into his periphery and someone cleared their throat.

He jerked his head up, about to tell whoever it was to fuck off, but the first syllable died in his mouth when he saw that it was Adam standing before him.

He was a little out of breath, like he’d been running, but his eyes were wide as he looked at Ronan as if he couldn’t quite believe he was there. Adam opened his mouth to say something, but Ronan got there first.

“Are you _lost?”_ he asked hoarsely.

Adam laughed, but it sounded more relieved than amused. “Are _you?”_

Ronan stood, still struggling to compute that Adam was here, in front of him. “I think you’ve missed your flight, Parrish.”

“I think you’re right.”

Ronan took a step toward him and then faltered. A thousand questions rushed through his mind, but he didn’t know which one to ask.

Adam breathed in and out slowly. “I went back to Gansey’s apartment, but he said you seemed upset and had gone out. He said you didn’t say where you were going.”

“Then how did you know where to find me?”

“I didn’t,” Adam said simply. “It was just a hunch.” He reached forward tentatively. “Ronan…”

Ronan’s eyes slid closed. He couldn’t imagine why Adam had missed his flight and tracked Ronan down. Scratch that; he _could,_ but it just sent his hopes sky-rocketing. Ronan couldn’t bear it if they were all shot out of the sky.

“Adam,” he said, and opened his eyes again. “Why are you still here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Adam said, a little desperately.

“Spell it out for me, science guy.”

Adam covered his face with his hands. “Oh, fuck _you,_ Ronan.” He groaned as he slowly dragged his hands away from his face and he paced an agitated circle in front of Ronan. “It’s like…y’know how sometimes you meet someone and instantly you just know they’re gonna be important to you?”

Hesitantly, Ronan nodded. He knew _exactly_ what that felt like.

“That’s how — ah, fuck, I don’t _know,_ I was with Blue and Henry and we were just about to get into a taxi to go to the airport, but I…I couldn’t go. It felt wrong, leaving it like that with you even though you were an _ass,_ and honestly? It felt wrong leaving you at _all.”_

Ronan thought he might have stopped breathing; Adam let out a shaky laugh and continued. “I mean, that doesn’t make sense, does it? I met you _yesterday_ for fuck’s sake. This isn’t a movie. But I just…ugh, I don’t know.” He dropped his hands to his sides.

It didn’t take many steps for Ronan to close the space between them, and slowly, he lifted his hand to cup Adam’s cheek. Adam closed his eyes and leaned into it, bringing his own hand up to lightly grip Ronan’s wrist.

“I don’t want this to just be a…an anecdote that I tell one day, of that time I was in New York City and got swept off my feet by a stranger only to never see him again,” Adam said quietly, just a breath away from Ronan’s lips. “I don’t want that shitty goodbye from this morning to be the end of this story.”

“It’s not a story,” Ronan murmured.

“Exactly. I want it to be real.”

“It _is_ real—”

“Ronan!” Adam complained, and then Ronan was kissing him, and it wasn’t soft and sleep hazy like it had been this morning. It was the kind of kiss that made your body tingle all over. The kind of kiss that felt like a promise. The kind of kiss that made Ronan forget they were standing in Central Park in the middle of the afternoon.

They begrudgingly parted, but they didn’t go far, foreheads pressed together.

 _“Fuck,”_ Adam breathed out, and Ronan smirked.

“That is exactly the right reaction.”

“Smug bastard,” Adam replied, entirely too fond. He stepped back and glared. “Did you realise that you never even asked for my phone number?”

“I fucking hate my phone, Parrish. Why didn’t you ask for _mine?”_

Adam cocked his head to the side, an amused twinkle to his eyes. “Well, what do you think I’m here for?” He took his phone out of his pocket and held it out to Ronan.

Ronan took it, incredulous. “Are you telling me that you missed your flight just so you could get my phone number?”

“What other reason could there possibly be?”

Ronan shook his head, but typed his details into Adam’s phone and passed it back. “How you gonna get home now, genius?”

“Well, I managed to rearrange my flight to go from Boston instead on Tuesday night,” he said meaningfully. “Don’t suppose you know anyone heading that way who can give me a lift?”

Ronan laughed and caught Adam’s hand to pull him closer. He kissed him, just because he could. “I think I can manage that, Parrish.”

 

* * *

 

 

Meandering back through the streets, hand in hand, Ronan found himself mentally arranging as much time as he could to visit Adam.

“I hope you know you’re gonna have to watch all of the Beaker Bros videos now,” Adam said.

“I fucking intend to, Parrish,” Ronan said. He’d already bookmarked the Beaker Bros channel on his phone. “So, hypothetically, if you and Henry and Blue were to leave Buzzfeed and start doing Beaker Bros stuff on your own—”

“We will,” Adam said with a finality that hadn’t been there before. “And sooner, rather than later.”

“Okay,” said Ronan, his heart soaring. “So _when_ you leave Buzzfeed, are you going to stay in L.A.?”

“No. Blue can’t stand it anymore, and Henry says the heat plays havoc with his hair anyway, so L.A.’s never been the ideal place for any of us.”

“Where would you go instead?”

Adam shrugged. “I haven’t really thought about it.” He went quiet, and Ronan pulled Adam’s hand to his mouth to kiss the back of it. Adam’s cheeks pinked, but he looked pleased. “New York’s nice, though,” he said quietly.

Ronan grinned.

“Good choice, Parrish.”

**Author's Note:**

> a huge thank you to veronicahague for looking this over for me, and also for taking my meagre offering of 'science bros' and upgrading to 'beaker bros' -- it's terrible and i love it and i love you <3
> 
> i hope you enjoyed!


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